Kim Seong-su

Kim Seong-su (1891 to 1955) was a Korean educator, independence activist, journalist and entrepreneur who built lasting institutions in Korean higher and secondary education. He managed Central School beginning in 1915 and founded Central High School in 1931, then served as president of Bosung College during the 1930s before transforming it into Korea University, which he founded in 1946. Beyond education he founded the newspaper Dong-A Ilbo in the early 1920s and started several business ventures, including the Seoul Spinning and Weaving Company, using his commercial and publishing activity to help fund his educational projects. A graduate of Waseda University in Tokyo, where he studied political science and economics, Kim was also active in the early planning of Korea's independence movement, helped found the Korean Democratic Party in 1947, and served as the second Vice President of South Korea from 1951 to 1952.